Colony is launched!

OMG I am so behind on my blog posts. T______T ButI got good excuse mmkay. That’s cos Colony‘s launch party happened the last two weeks!

So the last you heard, we were slaving away at getting Colony up and running before our launch date. Cos our launch party was also scheduled at the end of last month, we had to finish up all works AND plan a party at the same time. Some more both are under my scope wtf. Cos I was always in charge of design and renovation, I guess my role can be product development la lolol. And cos of my advertising background I’m also suddenly in charge or PR and marketing (and PR events).

So in addition to scuttling around to put the finishing touches on Colony and clean up, I also had to order food and drinks, invite guests, plan the agenda, decorate the place, prepare goodie bags as a way to thank guests, hire emcee, photographer, videographer, and hope everyone has fun wtf.

But I had a looooot of awesome nice wonderful capable help. So this post is to recap the launch and to thank the amazing people who really made it happen.

Photo spam ahead!

Not the launch but one of our first guests at Colony hahaha. Fighter and his best friend strolling the Corridor of Power wtf.

See this area? It’s part of the main event space, but the ceilings are low cos there are offices above it. So we thought of creating a space that was more chill and cosy. The tricky bit is how to make it chill and comfy and cosy yet also retain the luxury and classiness of the rest of Colony.

As part of the event space, I knew we would also have to move out the furniture here pretty often to make space for events so I asked our ID for light, movable beanbags and cushions.

She delivered beyond my expectations! It’s my favorite area in the whole of Colony. And the best part is that a day before the event, this space was completely bare wtf. We had ordered the furniture but Maybank were using the space for their Go Ahead Challenge until the day before. So on the morning of the launch, Katrine the ID straight moved everything in wtf. *slow ovation

Our invitation said 5 pm onwards but the place started filling up at 4 pm (to my horror cos we were still rushing around, arranging things). It turned out a lot of people just wanted to skip the jam and came earlier hahaha but I was very touched that they went to this much effort to attend. Thank you everyone!

Oh and this pretty sign? Done by one of my best friends Hui Wen and her sister Teeny who have just launched Soiree Lab, an event styling business and they did such an amazing job. T3T

More on them later.

Here’s Fatty striding around Colony like er… the boss wtf. And yea this is our black and white marble corridor that everyone loves.

Anyway see the glass windows down both sides of the corridor? They’re all private offices, some of which are still available for rent. *ahem.

When we were planning the styling of the event, we didn’t wanna overdo it cos what we wanted was for people to really focus on our space rather than the decor. So we decided to style all the rooms along this corridor, in different themes that Soiree Lab came up with. So people could get a sense of what could be done with an office at Colony, and it would also present a view of different companies that could have a space here!

One of my favorites – the girly fashion room. For a fashion or retail compnay hehehe. Maybe I’ll do a separate blog post on these rooms cos there’s so many!

Our front cafe space filling up with guests! On the left are our cafe operators – Espresso Lab for coffee and beverages, and Bold Grains for cake and food.

Speaking of food, here are some of the canapes Bold Grains served up!

Table styled by Soiree Lab. <3

Soiree Lab also helped me get additional desserts and pastries to further zhng the table lolol. They were going for a rustic, muted glam look so they chose these aptly colored praline tarts.

Cheese tarts. When Hui Wen was ordering the pastries I was like, want meh so many can finish meh? Conveniently forgetting I’m the only weirdo who hates dessert hahahaha. But I think they were a hit and they really put the finishing touches on our buffet spread!

Marbled Colony cupcakes. <3

Drink station! Raspberry soda from Espresso Lab, and ok need to say a big thank you to Heineken and Strongbow who supplied the beer and cider respectively!

Kepoh chi peering into the styled offices lolol.

How could we not have our biggest work event ever and not have the critters there right!? Hehe here they are clutching their cheese tarts. A second after this Penny dropped her tart and cried wtf.

(and I clearly never iron my pants.)

(also clearly color blind cos the theme is gold & black and when I got dressed my closet area is yellow light so I thought my pants were gold hahahahaha)

Everyone looking so well dressed <3

Careen was our host! When I was thinking of emcees, I didn’t want anyone but her *hearts in eyes* and she did such an amazing job on such short notice!

Here’s Fatty giving his passionate speech wtf.

Aerial view.

PR shot of Fatty on the rooftop of our building wtf.

Place really filling up! Really very touched so many people came for us. <3

#INFLUENCER Arnold Loh and girl whose name I did not catch but who came dressed so fitting to the theme!

Daniel and Fadza (without Vivy) (and Brian and Kittie at the back lol)

Espresso Lab owner Joshua and Sara of Bold Grains!

L-R: Teeny, Hui Wen, Bobo, Sieu Ee and Ally.

Minus Bobo plus the only other friend I have who’s also named Audrey hahaha.

Dianna and Linda very serious!

Wah my mouth so big why do I bother having cheeks WTF.

Linda and Kai Siew <3

David with my daughter hahaha she very layan him normally she’s super lansi! Apparently she was ordering him about some more.

Our team of interior designers of Hoe & Yin! Katrine, Jason and Jocelyn.

Oh and all these photos? Taken by official photographer Kehrol (who’s an old friend all the way from US college days) and her friends from 90K who did videography for us!

Taken after the party was over and we can all relax hahaha.

Anyway like I said, I really couldn’t have pulled off this launch party without the amazing people we worked with. Here’s a shoutout to them because they really deserve the credit.

Soiree Lab – for being our eye for beauty and the talent behind the party. For conceptualizing and creating all the gorgeous offices, for conceptualizing our goodie bags, for styling the food and drinks tables so beautifully.

Espressolab – for providing the yummy soda of which I had a lot lolol. Of course we had to get our beverages from you!

Bold Grains – our in house cafe operator who served up canapes that not only looked good but tasted great, I heard people gushing over them!

Careen – for agreeing to host our party at such short notice and for less than what you’re really worth. You did such a flawless job!

Hoe & Yin Design Studio – without whom we wouldn’t have this party at all wtf. They were the force behind what Colony is today, and worked unflaggingly to produce what I unabashedly think is the most beautiful coworking space in Malaysia.

All our guests, our family members and friends – you were the people we wanted to celebrate with. Thank you for being there!

The media and influencers – Sad that we didn’t manage to get photos of every single one of you! Some of you are our friends, some we’ve never met before. Nevertheless you guys took the time to attend and for that I am so so appreciative. Thank you for your support and I’m glad that I met so many awesome friendly people.

The Colony family – what would we have done without you guys!? You guys worked late nights to set up and prepare, took on menial jobs just to ensure the event is a success. Everyone chipped in wholeheartedly, organizing the logistics of the event, running tours, and even making the effort to go down on the road to greet guests. You guys are the backbone of Colony.